I'm looking for a reader that will do just that - allow me to open and read ePub files on my PC (XP). The ones I've tried, for example Sony and Calibre want to manage my files, whjich involves making unnecessary copies of stuff I've already downloaded to my computer.

Is there something that will do what, say, Adobe reader does for pdf, and just open an ePub file when I click on it, let me read it, then close without changing anything?

I use Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) as a simple ePub reader. I have it associated with the Windows "Open" command for the ePub extension so that it opens as the default app when I double-click on an ePub.

For that matter, you can use calibre's reader (ebook-viewer.exe) the same way, totally bypassing calibre's library management functions.

I use Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) as a simple ePub reader. I have it associated with the Windows "Open" command for the ePub extension so that it opens as the default app when I double-click on an ePub.

That's what I use too.

By the way, what icon is associated with your .epub files? Previously I had none, oh, and that's a feature of ADE....

Thanks for your help. I had tried associating ePub with Calibre, but hadn't noticed that the reader is a separate .exe, and that you can use it and bypass all the library management stuff. Using ADE works too. I didn't try the other options, two is enough! Great response to my first query!

Thanks for your help. I had tried associating ePub with Calibre, but hadn't noticed that the reader is a separate .exe, and that you can use it and bypass all the library management stuff. Using ADE works too. I didn't try the other options, two is enough! Great response to my first query!

I discovered today that another, simple way to bypass the Calibre library management functions is to go to "all programs", look for the Calibre drop down, and select the E-book viewer.
(This is on an XP machine).

Having said that, while Calibre is great, and FBReader is also very good at what it does, I was wondering if there were any other stand-alone programs (not browser add-ons) that did similar things.
(I'm afraid I don't like the look and feel of Adobe DE at all).

I've been having font problems of different kinds with both Calibre and FBReader, while reading some German books in EPUB format. While Calibre read most of the books fine, for one of them, for some reason, it couldn't handle the umlauts.

So I tried the same book in FBReader, and it handled the umlauts fine (and for all the other German books I had). But it insisted on reading them with a non-serif font, and when I tried changing it, it didn't seem to want to do it (though I tried several). I could change fonts with FBReader's "about" information, no problem.

I notice that the development effort for FBReader is going into mobile devices, which is fair enough, but it does mean the desktop support (for Windows anyway) has fallen way behind.

Ironically, the only thing I've found that truly does what you describe -- treat ePUBs like PDFs and not include any annoying "library" functionality -- is a PDF reader, Sumatra PDF, which also supports ePUBs. As an added bonus, it comes in a "portable" version, a standalone executable.

Last edited by Wingman4l7; 02-09-2014 at 01:33 PM.
Reason: clarification